Get to know the Junior Eurovision 2017 Hosts!

The pieces of the Junior Eurovision puzzle are finally starting to come together, with the latest news from Georgia being the announcement of the hosts of the show! In Kyiv for Eurovision 2017, we had a trio of male hosts, and Georgia has now decided on a female duo!

The first of the two hosts is Helen Kalandadze. Helen was born in Tbilisi, and participated in the reality show Star Academy back in 2009. Not long after, she began her journey in the world of broadcasting. In 2010, she took part in the Eurovision Song Contest as a backing singer for Sofia Nizharadze. The following year, she graduated from Ilia University in the Faculty of Business Administration and Tourism Management.

In 2013, she participated and won the singing competition Your Face Sounds Familiar, and in the same year she started the Teen Club Studio alongside Sopho Toroshelidze and Nina Tsitlauri. This is a place where teenagers can play instruments, have vocal and choreography training. Helen proves that she’s an all-rounder, as she is a television presenter, a music producer and musician, making her a perfect host of the upcoming contest!

Hosting alongside Helen will be Lizi Pop, whose full name is Lizi Japaridze. You may recognise Lizi if you’re a Junior Eurovision fan, as she participated in the contest herself back in 2014 with the song Happy Day.

Her introduction to music came when she was only four years old when she started studying at the International School of Georgia. More recently, Lizi started studying at the French School of the Caucasus. She can speak fluent Georgian, Russian, English and French and is learning Spanish!

Lizi isn’t shy in front of the camera, as she now creates her own videos on YouTube, as well as regularly participating on TV shows and at concerts. She has an interest in human and animal rights, and works with various charities.

Interestingly, this will also mark the first time that Junior Eurovision will feature a host younger than the age of 16!